Handheld portable bar code scanners having pistol-type grips are generally well-known. Some such pistol-grip portable scanners are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,597, “Digitally Controlled System For Scanning And Reading Bar Codes” issued to Eastman, et al. on Apr. 6, 1993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,508,505, “Holder For Handheld Portable Bar Code Scanner” issued to Walts, et al. on Apr. 16, 1996; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,576,531, “Hand Held Bar Code Scanning Device Having A Manually Operated Optical Trigger Switch” issued to Murphy on Nov. 19, 1996, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. These and other portable scanners are easily misplaced, and if set down in a traffic area, may become lost or crushed under vehicles or inventory. Accordingly, such portable scanners are often secured in cradles, many of which permit bar code scanning through the cradle.
However, known cradles are limited in their ability to provide efficient and reliable security for such portable bar code scanners.